Southern Paranormal - Investigations
The Kings Theatre, Southsea Investigation
Friday 8th June 2007, 9pm – 2.30am
Attending Investigators – Julie Harwood, Maria Street, Rachel Bettany, Simon Steadman, Di Moore, Brian Ward, Amanda Horley, Wayne Blyth, Alison Blyth, Emma Curtis, Mark Pettet, Ross Richardson, Maureen Taylor, Sarah Couper, Marion McCaffrey, Marie Holder, Sandy Rutter, Eileen Rutter, Mark Davies & Jon Small.
Introduction
Courtesy of The Kings Theatre
This dignified and beautiful theatre - with its Italian Renaissance style of decor - is one of the best examples of the elegant Edwardian playhouses to be found in the British Isles and one of the few remaining traditional hemp houses. It is the result of the vision and business acumen of John Walter Boughton and the architectural prowess of Frank Matcham, one of the greatest of theatre architects. Although Frank Matcham is much respected and his work is becoming well documented, J W Boughton remains largely unknown outside Portsmouth.
In the mid-1850s, the theatre manager Henry Rutley arrived in Portsmouth and took over the Landport Hall. His previous experience in both theatre and circus persuaded him that a theatre could not only be made profitable but would also be a social asset to the town. With only a licence for a limited period he had the faith to re-open the Landport Hall as the New Theatre Royal in 1856. J W Boughton became his assistant and, after the death of both Henry Rutley and his successor J C Hughes, Boughton took over the reins of the Portsmouth Theatre Company in 1882. One of Boughton's first decisions was to undertake a major rebuild of his theatre. To do so he engaged the most famous theatre architect of the day, C A Phipps, who had earlier built the Gaiety, the Theatre Royal and the Haymarket in London, as well as undertaking commissions for the Theatre Royal in Bath, Brighton and Nottingham. This was the Boughton style - to go for the best and to be commercially bold.
In 1882 the Prince's Theatre in Lake Road was destroyed by fire and two years later Boughton purchased the land adjoining the site, so that it had a greater potential when he could afford to rebuild. This he did in 1891, employing the eminent theatre architect Frank Matcham to undertake the work. He employed the same architect yet again to rebuild the New Theatre Royal in 1900, and he took him into his confidence early in the century when he began to discuss the building of a theatre in Southsea. So confident was he that Boughton paid for the initial design out of his own pocket, only disclosing his action to his company in June 1906. He was reimbursed for every penny and his foresight was approved, so that this theatre - the Kings - became the third theatre owned by the Portsmouth Theatre Company.
Opening night, 30th September 1907, was a most glittering occasion. H B Irving, son of the great Sir Henry, played three of his father's successes in the first week, The Lyons Mail, The Bells and Charles 1 (which was the first show to be shown). On the opening night, as the curtain rose, the Portsmouth Orpheus Society played the National Anthem - in which the audience joined most heartily. J W Boughton died in 1914 but his Company continued to operate the Kings Theatre until 1964 when Commander Reggie & Mrs Joan Cooper purchased it. In 1990 Hampshire County Council bought the Theatre, but Mrs Cooper stayed and was joined by Mr 1 S Barnes as Co-lessees.
J W Boughton's daughter married Julian Bainbridge, who became for many years the manager of the Kings. They had a daughter, the actress Hazel Bainbridge, who was a shareholder in the Portsmouth Theatre Company. Hazel Bainbridge is the mother of two actresses (Kate O'Mara and Belinda Carroll), both of whom have played at the Kings along with practically all the great names of the English stage, and in recent years the Theatre has had many 'prior to London' productions. Actress Dillie Keane, leading lady of "Fascinating Aida" is a local Southsea doctor's Daughter and an usher in her youth at the theatre. Dillie Keane and Kate O'Mara are proud to be patrons of the theatre.
In 2001, after a successful campaign by AKTER (Action for Kings Theatre Restoration) to keep the theatre open, it was bought by Portsmouth City Council and leased to the Kings Theatre Trust Ltd who took responsibility for the building's restoration and repair. This trust leased the building in turn to an operating company, Kings Theatre Southsea Ltd, who operated and maintained the building on a day to day basis and put on the programme of shows. After a seemingly successful 18 months the operating company went bankrupt, and the Kings Theatre Trust had to take over the operation of the theatre to prevent it from total closure. This Trust has been running the theatre for over a year, and many successful shows have been held, with many more to come.
During its nine decades of life, many stars have passed through this theatre. We wanted to see if any of them remained...
Vigil Teams
Team 1
Julie - Team Leader
Maria
Simon
Marie
Sarah
Jon
Team 2
Di - Team Leader
Marion
Amanda
Alison
Eileen
Team 3
Maureen - Team Leader
Brian
Sandy
Mark D
Team 4
Rachel - Team Leader
Ross
Mark P
Wayne
Emma
Vigil Areas
Dress Circle & boxes
The Gods "Upper Gallery" & Hexagonal room
Stalls - in particular rows R, S & T (into stalls and its far left)
Under the Stage
Trigger Object Experiment
Large copy of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" On Stage
TIME SET - 9.45pm
SET BY - Wayne and Sandy (accompanied by Peter)
PHOTO TAKEN - Yes (and locked off camcorder left)
TIME CLOSED - 2.00am
RESULTS - This trigger object did not appear to move
PHOTO TAKEN - Yes
Itinerary
| 9pm | Team Arrive |
| 9.30pm | Tour with guide Peter Clark defining vigil areas |
| 10.15pm | Vigil 1 Team 1 Dress Circle & boxes Team 2 The Gods Team 3 Stalls Team 4 Under the Stage |
| 11.00pm | Vigil 2 Team 1 The Gods Team 2 Stalls Team 3 Under the Stage Team 4 Dress Circle & boxes |
| 12.00am | Break |
| 12.15am | Vigil 3 Team 1 Stalls Team 2 Under the Stage Team 3 Dress Circle & boxes Team 4 The Gods |
| 1.15am | Vigil 4 Team 1 Under the Stage Team 2 Dress Circle & boxes Team 3 The Gods Team 4 Stalls |
| 2.00am | Pack up |
| 2.30am | Depart |
Equipment Allocation
As per the wishes of the theatre the only equipment allowed was technical equipment, no divination tools ie glass, crystals, rods were permitted. We were of course happy to respect this.
Each team had -
1 night vision camcorder
At least 1 digital camera
1 Temperature Gun
1 EMF Meter
Clip board, note sheets & pen
Vigil / Team Notes
Team 1
Dress Circle & Boxes -
Temp 20.5 on walls, 22.0 on ceiling, 20.5 on floor
EMF Readings normal
Maria calls out and Mark in the team (in the stalls) below feels tingly
Maria hears a knock coming from behind Julie
Julie hears a knock behind her and investigates, on the step she sees a light move down towards her, past her and down the corridor
Sarah feels a tingling sensation on the back of her neck
Maria asks for the person in the box (Simon) to be affected and Simon hears someone knock on the box door
Jon gets what he thinks is a surname "Davy" or "Davey" and feels it has a connection to the owners of the theatre. He also thinks the name Charles or Charlie is significant and whispers this to Maria.
Maria feels a cold spot behind her, temp 20.0
Light anomalies caught on Jon's camcorder and on digital camera behind Maria.
Maria calls out for the name to be put in someone else's head
Julie asks out to team "Who is Charlie Drake?"
Maria feels cold down one arm (right) - no temp difference was found
Team hear whistling on two occasions
Taps can be heard coming from below in the stalls and in particular the Pit area at the front of the stage
Lots of noise coming from the Gods, like furniture being moved around.
The Gods -
On way to The Gods team capture Light anomalies on the stairs which appear to be following the team and then passing them on the stairs. Temp on stairs 20.0 fluctuating at points to 21.0, EMF readings normal.
Team stop off in hexagonal room. Temp 19.0 on walls, 20.0 on floor, 20.5 on ceiling but this fluctuates due to holes in the roof.
Musty smell in this room. Sarah has a metal taste in her mouth but it is not like the metal taste associated with blood.
Julie's digital camera flashes low battery but it was fully charged before investigation.
On the stairs to the room it smells like eggs
In the Gods - Temp 21.5, EMF readings normal
Sarah hears someone clear his or her throat in the lighting room
Julie feels drunk and is slurring her words
Some of the team feel hot in the lighting room but temp is constant at 21.5.
Team hear thumping noise and Sarah has pain in the back of her head like she has knocked it
Julie imagines men in flat caps drinking and smoking in side area of lighting room
On way down team meet Simon who swears he has just followed Julie downstairs but team confirm they were all together in the gods.
The Stalls -
Temp 19.5/20.0 all around. EMF readings normal.
Julie reports a drop in temp to 18. In one part of the central aisle, even though everywhere else is reading 19.5 - 20.0
Sarah goes and stands where cold spot is detected and Julie calls out for spirit to try and affect Sarah
Julie gets the name Alfred
Jon calls out and after a little while feels a breeze around his arm. Temp around Jon's arm is 19.
Jon calls out again and Marie hears a faint mans voice whisper "Yes"
Maria mentions the name Ivor and Jon gets the name Beaumont
Maria calls for Alfred and Peter says he can feel coldness around him. Temp readings confirm that temp in the rest of the theatre is still 20.0 but around Peter it is 18.0
Julie feels like something touches her hair but thinks it may have just caught on her jacket
Walking past row F Julie can smell disinfectant
Maria calls out and Jon feels something touch his head while he is sat in row R
Julie and Marie both hear a sigh but at different times but possibly coming from the same area
Still sat in Row R, Jon feels a funny sensation in his neck
Julie sits in Row S and feels like she is sat in someone else's seat and she will be asked to move
Jon feels like his ears are being tweaked and his face is getting hot
Both John and Marie hear another sigh
Under the Stage -
Temp 18.5, EMF readings normal apart from near pipes
Julie admits to feeling a little uneasy down here despite feeling fine all night
Simon comments that he does not feel like we are alone
Julie calls out and Marie feels a slight breeze across her face
Maria and Marie both hear a tapping noise
Light anomalies caught on camcorder
Maria gets the name Bertie and Jon at the same time gets the name Albert. Same person?
Maria calls out and a twinkly light anomaly seems to have been caught on camcorder
Simon and Julie hear noise from corridor, shadow seen briefly
Marie mentions the name Johnson as a surname and Maria gets the first name Celia.
Maria hears a sound like someone sobbing or quietly hiccuping.
Jon has a pain one side of his face (right) and Maria has pain in her face (on left side). Jon feels this is something to do with Albert / Bertie. Maybe he was burnt or suffered injury on his face.
EMF fluctuates to 2.0 for no apparent reason. Simons EMF also spikes in same area.
Camcorders die (Julie's and Jon's). Simon brings replacement and that turns itself off too.
Team 2
Back stairs, hexagonal room & the gods
Temp reading 21/22
Cold area seemed to follow Di around in the hexagonal room
Amanda could feel the temp difference with her hand
Warm by the floor, cold at chest height and then warmer the higher up you touched
Woman called Kathleen?
Gods - very quiet
Back down to hexagonal room - temp still 21.0, all quiet
Stalls
Very quiet nothing to report
Under Stage
Team pick up on a boy - Joseph bell, shabby in appearance but nice
Alison felt he had a hessian shirt and Amanda thought he had a hessian jacket
He was liked by the girls who worked there as he was not a threat to them
Team imagine a lot of lower class parties were held down here and both Alison and Amanda relate this to Titanic
Di picks up on someone drowning, an older man with a beard, maybe a drunk
Alison gets the names Godfrey and Garner and then says its not Garner its Higgins
Both Marion and Eileen feel cold across their backs, yet Alison who is sat between them cant feel it
Alison gets the statement "Didn't like how it turned out!"
Di gets the year 1930, flashing cameras and 2 people being taken away from the theatre. A man and a woman. The police are involved, not sure how but it is a scandal.
Dress Circle and Boxes
Group under stage could hear people and movement above them twice but there was definitely no one moving around
Team 3
Stalls
Maureen feels someone sitting in 2nd seat in, of row R. Young lady from the early days of theatre. Black straw boater with ribbon, happy. Gets name of Jennifer. Where dress circle over hangs Maureen gets the feeling someone is following her.
Cold breeze felt by Mark & Maureen who were seated either side of the central aisle.
Front row, 10.45pm centre. Cold spot found. Name of Amanda picked up on.
Maureens sees a small white light on ceiling under dress circle.
Team 4
Under the Stage
10.30pm Ross hears sound above him but thinks it may be the pipes
10.35pm Wayne hears sound near Mark
10.40pm Rachel calls out - no response
10.45pm Team hear sound of water near back of room, toilets?
10.50pm Voices heard near stairs to exit. Traffic and people on the streets?
10.55pm Wayne feels dizzy near passage way to the stage. Other members of the team notice this and so team calls out but receives no response.
Dress Circle & Boxes
11.15pm Rachel calls out but no response is heard
11.20pm Theatre is very quiet, the only noises seem to be coming from outside
11.45pm Still very quiet
11.47pm Light anomalies picked up on camcorder
11.50pm Rachel calls out and team hear a thud but are not sure where from
The Gods
12.15am Light anomalies caught on camcorder, behind Mark in corridor to the seating in the Gods. Rachel also gets orbs on camera.
12.50am Very quiet vigil, nothing to report
Stalls
1.10am Ross feels cold in row R, seat 8 (Legs and feet)
1.20am Rows R back have got noticeable colder
1.45am Ross calls out but no response is heard, area seems very quiet
Personal Reports
Julie Harwood
It's hard to imagine a more dramatic and spooky setting for a paranormal investigation. The closest some of us had ever got to investigating a theatre was when we visited the Opera House in early 2006 however since it was a nightclub in the shell of a theatre, some of the magic and atmosphere had inevitably been lost. When David agreed to let us investigate the Kings Theatre I was very excited and I know the group were too.
Not in the best of health on the night, I was worried the investigation would not be that eventful for me as I found it hard to get in the mood. Thank you to my team that night for running the vigils without a fully compless mentus team leader.
After meeting our guide Peter and having the best tour our group has had on an investigation we had a team picture on the stage. This set the evening perfectly.
I was in team 1 with Maria, Simon, Sarah, Marie and our newest member Jon.
Our first vigil was in the dress circle and boxes and so once we settled and took our preliminary pictures, Maria started to call out. We had Maureens team in the stalls below us and Di's team up in the Gods so we definitely had the area covered. A few taps and bangs were heard but at first we had to attribute them to noise from the street on a busy Friday night. I was sat nearest the first box where Simon was and I heard a very definite tap behind me. I got up to investigate and as soon as I turned round I saw a bright light come from the doors, down the step in front of me and towards the box Simon was in. It was so real that I actually took a step back instinctively to let it pass me. It was then that Simon came out of the box and asked if I had knocked on the door. Once I had explained what I had seen and said that no, I had not been near the door, we both heard another noise. This time Simon went off to investigate and I must say, being the normally composed person he is, it surprised me when he came back looking a little spooked.
Maria continued to call out and suddenly out of no where I thought of the name Charlie Drake and asked Maria and Jon who this was. Once they had finished giggling at the fact that I did not know who Charlie Drake was they explained that it was odd as seconds before Jon had apparently whispered the name Charlie to Maria as someone he felt he was picking up on. I don't believe I was picking up on the spirit of Charlie Drake, who I have been informed has recently passed away but it was odd that I came up with the same first name as Jon. Jon has been investigating this since the investigation and has confirmed with theatre staff that Charlie Drake did in fact star in Pantomime at the Kings and Jon has actually spoken to the lady who acted as his personal assistant when he visited the theatre.
Our next vigil was in the Gods and I have to say this was not somewhere I was looking forward to visiting. I had skipped it on the tour as I was not feeling so great but also I have a great fear of heights, however on the vigil I decided I was not going to be beaten. We stopped off on the stairs at one point and Jon caught some moving light anomalies, which seemed to be following us upstairs and then passing us. We stopped off in the hexagonal room, which for me was a quiet area, which lacked the atmosphere the rest of the theatre had. When we moved on to the Gods I kept to the back of the area not wanting to look down and spent most of my vigil here in the lights and projectionists room. This I was happy to do as Sarah had heard someone clear their throat in their and in the little room next to this room I could imagine poorly dressed men in flat caps smoking and drinking, taking a break. On the way down from this area we met a rather shocked looking Simon in the hexagonal room who swore blind that he had followed me downstairs and was surprised to hear I had been with the rest of the team the whole time.
Our next vigil was in the stalls. This area was quiet for me. Apart from a few taps and creaks that came from the stage, I did not experience anything else. I went and sat in the row of seats that is supposed to be the most haunted / active and I must say that I did feel like I was sat in someone's seat and at any moment someone would ask me to move. I put this down to the fact that I know a little about these seats. The only other strange thing we noticed was the moving cold spots. These were strong and often were a good couple of degrees lower than the surrounding temperature. At one point, even Peter (who had joined us on the vigil) felt it on his leg.
Our last vigil was under the stage and that has to be one of the weirdest vigils I have done in a long time. The almost constant sound of footsteps on the stage above us when we knew no one was there put us on edge a little but we all had the feeling we were not alone down there. 3 camcorders seemingly drained of battery power, one of those was our hub spare so we know it was fully charged. There was a constant air of anticipation that something about to happen but it never did and unfortunately time beat us. I really wished we had had a little more time down there, as I am sure something would have happened and I don't think I have ever said that before!
In all a great night and one I am so glad I did not miss! Thank you to the whole team for proving that despite having a large team in a building built to carry noise, an investigation in close quarters was possible.
A big thank you to David Cooper for allowing us this investigation and also to Peter for giving up his time to accompany us on the night. You were a great asset to have on board and your enthusiasm for the building and its history is inspiring. Plus you did a great job of helping us stick to vigil times! Thank you.
Maria Street
This was a trip down memory lane for me, as I used to go to the Kings every year for the annual pantomime. The place hasn't really changed at all. It still offers the whole opulent theatre experience. It is in the middle of renovation work but still holds all its' charm and you can so imagine the excited crowds of yesteryear milling through the corridors on their way to take their seats for an evening full of pure entertainment.
I had accompanied Rab on the pre investigation visit the week before and that just gave me a taste of what to expect. I travelled down with Di and Julie. We were a little later than expected but soon found ourselves stood outside with the other members and it wasn't long before we were inside. After the usual setting up we joined together on the stage for a group photo which was taken by Peter Clark, who was to accompany us for the evening. Peter also very kindly took the group on a guided tour. As I had already been the week before I decided not to go with them to the Gallery as it was really high and made me feel quite dizzy! Julie was feeling unwell, so stayed with me. Whilst we were down in the stalls, I saw somebody outside the entrance door at the back of the area and they were walking from left to right. We were sure that everybody had gone up to the gallery, so went to investigate - and found that it was impossible for anybody to walk in this direction as they would have gone through the wall! They could only walk back from the door back into the corridor. Intrigued, we asked the group members if anybody was missing from the gallery tour, only to be told that all were accounted for. A very promising start!
I was in team 1 with Julie, Jon, Marie, Simon and Sarah, and our first vigil was in the Dress Circle. As there were two other teams in the near vicinity, (the gallery and the stalls) it was decided that only one team should call out. I started and was treated to a few taps and thuds. This continued for a while, when Jon, who was sat behind me, told me that he had been given the name 'Charlie' and a bit later on, 'Davy' or what had sounded like 'Davy' I called out again and asked if that name could be put into somebody else's head. Almost immediately, Julie asked 'Who is Charlie Drake'? I couldn't believe it as there is no way that Julie could have heard Jon whisper the name to me. He was very careful that nobody could overhear. What's even more fantastic is that Julie had never heard of Charlie Drake and Jon has since discovered that he did indeed play at the theatre. These are my favourite types of evidence and I love it when it occurs. I continued to call out but it seemed the spirit in question did not like being asked to perform on the spot. Julie had one moment where she jumped out of her skin because she thought that Simon or Peter had just walked past her but they were elsewhere and everybody else was where they should be. Simon also had an interesting experience in the box where he was sitting. Just after I had asked for a noise and for the spirit to affect somebody else, he heard somebody knocking on the door to the box, only for there to be nobody there. Other people also felt tingling when I asked for the spirit to touch somebody and a few of us noticed a drop in temperature. Because of the nature of the venue we had all agreed to be very quiet on the investigation but it was very noisy up in the gallery, almost as if furniture was being moved around, so it was quite disconcerting to learn that the team up there had kept still throughout the vigil and had only moved to go down to the octagonal room, which was part of that area.
Our next vigil was in the gallery itself, which I was half dreading, simply because of the steepness of the slope. We stopped for a while on the way up and Jon caught numerous orbs on the camcorder. We made our way to the octagonal room but didn't really get much here, or so we thought! On viewing the camcorder afterwards, Jon had filmed a distinct shadow passing over the doorway. We were all stationary at the time the footage was shot. We continued up to the gallery. Simon sat close to the front and I hung on for dear life on to the barrier at the back. I was accompanied by Julie who also hates heights. We stayed quiet for a while and heard taps coming from a little room off the gallery, the projectionist's room. It was just in to the entrance to this that Julie said she felt drunk and she and, I believe it was Sarah, heard the sound of a man clearing his throat. They called out and heard it again, but this spirit seemed reluctant to perform in our presence and seemed to prefer it if we watched from a distance! Simon had been sitting down the front and Marie thought that he still was as she could see a figure still sat there. However he had gone back down to the Octagonal Room. We made our way down there and he was visibly shocked to see Julie with us as he had sworn that he had followed her down earlier and stared in disbelief when we told him that Julie had been with us all the time.
Our next vigil in the stalls was quite quiet with a few taps heard from the orchestra pit, where orbs were picked up on camera. We also felt a dramatic change in temperature although this was not picked up on the laser thermometer.
Our last vigil was one we were really looking forward to - under the stage. We settled ourselves down and listened quietly before calling out. We heard footsteps across the stage on a couple of occasions and a quick check on the walkie talkie confirmed that nobody was in this vicinity at this time. Simon also thought that somebody had walked across the doorway and he went to investigate and a further check on the radio once again confirmed that nobody was there. We also had the radio crackling on a couple of occasions and we thought that somebody was trying to get hold of us, but a check confirmed that this was not the case.
I kept seeing movement in front of my eyes but thought my eyes were playing tricks until I noticed that Sarah was staring in the same place. When I questioned her, she said that she thought she could see movement as well, but, like me, thought it was her eyes playing tricks. I picked up on a few names, one of which was Bertie. As I said this Jon got the name Albert. I also got the name Celia, who Sarah felt was a young girl who liked to dance. I also got the name Ivor. It was a brilliant night and very much enjoyed by all of us and a big thanks to Peter Clark for all his help and for keeping the vigils to time! Also thank you to manager David for his time and knowledge on our pre investigation visit. They were both very welcoming and obviously had a passion for this wonderful building and it's history.
Alison Blyth
The first thing that struck me was the beauty of the building with its ornate ceilings and carvings in the marble pillars. On our walkabout with Peter I saw a woman in the dress circle walking almost model like across the window. Peter explained to us that the rich used this area and the women would use this opportunity to show off their dresses and finery.
My first vigil was in the octagonal room and the 'Gods'. There was such a contrast from the plush seating in the stalls and dress circle, as the floors were concrete and the banisters metal and plain.
On entering the room I could feel a buzz from the room itself, the only way to describe this is by saying it felt like it had been used for a gathering point for quite a few people. We called out but didn't get an immediate response, but did feel quite a few cold spots. What fascinated me was the fact in theory heat rises so it should have been cooler closer to the floor and warmer the higher you go, but in this room it was one degree cooler above our hands than below. The whole team felt this and it seemed to follow us around the room. I was attracted to the corner to the right hand side of the door as you enter and as I stood there I heard someone singing "take me home Kathleen", but unfortunately no more information was given to identify what this meant.
We moved on to the 'Gods' and whilst I had a fear of the height in his area I also felt the inclination to jump off the top onto the stalls area and felt that because the stairs leading to the front of the gods were quite unevenly spaced that a man had actually fallen from the balcony. I felt a little giddy and figured that he was maybe drunk and lost his footing.
Our next vigil was in the stalls area. We called out but as there was three groups in this area it was very difficult to co-ordinate calling out without disturbing the other groups so I decided to sit quietly. I firstly sat near the front of the stage and sensed two young women one called herself Amy Burton and the other Annabel Richards. They explained that they were a cabaret act specifically for the men who visited the theatre. I was given the year of 1912 and was told they were like the Bluebells wearing garters and frilly bloomers. I also felt the urge to sneeze as if my nose was being tickled by feathers, which I felt were big ostrich feathers, which were used in their act. They gave he impression of being from a poor background and sought fame to get them out of poverty. By day they worked in a factory and by night as dancers.
I moved to the other side of the stalls and again sat quietly. I was about five rows up and four chairs in, and as I sat down I felt like I was at the cinema and literally moved in to let someone pass to get to their seat despite there being no-one there. I experienced very bad chest pains and tingling down my left side and felt like I was having a heart attack. I was given that this corresponded to a man who had spent time here and I gleamed the name of Edward Humphries. He gave me the impression that he loved this theatre and spent as much time as possible here and could have possibly suffered a heart attack in the building.
We called out and a few loud thumps were heard in response but I cannot rule out that this could have been the locals.
My third vigil was behind the stage. I did sense a young lad of about 17 years old who gave me the name of Joseph . He was also from a poor background and worked as a stagehand helping out for pennies. He was well liked and a friendly lad. I could smell hessian and assumed that his clothes were made of this fabric with a cloth cap and scuffed black shoes. I sensed that he was at the theatre around the 1920s. What surprised me about this was that Amanda also sensed him and got the surname of Bell.
Our final vigil was in the Dress circle. Once again as there were other teams in the area I sat quietly but felt the urge to giggle as I kept being told Rubies and Pearls are for the nice girls, and it seemed to be coming from what could only be descried as a drag queen who was known as Ruby. I felt he was from the late 60s early 70s and was more of a light-hearted act who would pull in the crowds for being very OTT. I didn't feel that he was the main attraction but a support act or the taster for the main attraction. Whilst sat in the Box I could smell a herbs smell which I felt could have been snuff and that the upper class would sip champagne and watch the show with their ivory binoculars. I felt like this was earlier in era round about the 1920s as the shows were plays and the men dressed as women to play the female characters in the play.
All in all a fantastic evening which I enjoyed immensely as despite not being able to call out much, gave me the opportunity to concentrate quietly soaking in the atmosphere within the place.
Thank you so much for this privilege.
Wayne Blyth
I had always wanted to investigate a theatre, so I jumped at the chance when invited to attend. The night was to prove highly eventful for me.
After being introduced to Peter, our guide took us on the tour. While upstairs on our way to "The Gods", I captured several extremely impressive "orbs".
On with our duties. Sandy and myself set up a locked off camera on the stage, which consisted of the complete works of Shakespeare, opened at Macbeth surrounded by motion detectors.
My first vigil was under the stage with Rachel, Ross, Mark P and Emma. I think a couple of orbs were captured on my camcorder, but, until the end of the vigil, that was about the extent of occurrences. I had been standing near the door leading to the orchestra pit for a while, and when we were just finishing, I noticed that in one particular spot, I started to feel dizzy. I called Emma over and she experienced the same sensation, as did the others. It actually caused me to have to grab the handrail to stop myself falling over.
Next for us was the dress circle. I positioned myself in one of the boxes. Due to the extreme dark of the hall, my camcorder had difficulty adjusting even with night vision activated, so I hardly used it at all. I felt nothing in the box, but on moving out and into the main seating, I decided to sit at the front of the circle in the middle. Immediately, I felt as though the seat (A20) were vibrating. Checking for future reference, the name on the seat was James Gardner, but I don't know if this will prove significant. I moved a couple of seats away and the feeling subsided. On returning to the seat, I began to feel angry and actually quite defensive of the theatre. I actually felt as though I wanted every one to leave. Mark and myself both heard Julie talking, and she appeared to be at the front of the stage. Bizarrely, she appeared moments later from the back of the hall. An effect of the acoustics? I don't know.
This angry feeling stayed with me on our next vigil, which was up in The Gods. After looking round the spotlight room, I went down into the seating area. I sat down and immediately felt at peace. I didn't even notice that the other team members had made their way down to the hexagonal room, leaving me there all alone. Normally, at 2 or 3 in the morning, an old theatre, in the dark, would be quite scary, but, as I said, I was totally at peace. Until, that is, I noticed someone down in one of the boxes. At this point, I began feeling extremely angry again, with a desire to have whoever it was, removed from the theatre. Later, I again heard Julie and her team downstairs, and I had the strangest thought. I thought to myself that if I were to jump, and land in the middle of them all, that would show them! I have no explanation for these feelings and wouldn't really want to experience them again.
Lastly we were in the stalls, and, apart from the same angry feeling staying with me, nothing much was to happen here for me.
Conclusion:
A fantastic location, and one with such a lot of history. There is something about this place, definitely. Paranormal? I don't know, however, surely with the amount of orbs that I know were captured during the investigation cant all be dust can they?
I must thank Peter for being so nice and a great ambassador to this theatre.
Amanda Horley
This was the first time that I have investigated a theatre and it was interesting to see parts of this 100 year old building that I wouldn't normally get to see when going to shows there.
Our first vigil was in "the Gods" and a small octagonal room part way up the stairs leading to the Gods. Whilst the Gods were quiet, there did appear to be some sort of activity in the octagonal room. Di felt as if there was something following her around, and I was able to pick up cold spots near her that seemed to move with her and didn't occur elsewhere in the room. The temperature was measured as being colder immediately below my hand (held slightly above waist height) than it was nearer the floor level, and above my hand. I didn't experience any further activity though.
Our second vigil was in the stalls and for me was very quiet.
Our third vigil was under the stairs, and this, for me, was the most interesting area. Alison felt the presence of a young man called Joseph and I felt that his surname was Bell. We felt that he was a stagehand rather than anyone important, and we both came up with Hessian at the same time. I felt that his coat/jacket was made of Hessian and Alison felt that his clothes were Hessian in colour. I felt that there would have been parties below stage for the stage hands/dressers/make up ladies and whilst trying to describe what they would have been like, Alison came out with "titanic". That was exactly the type of party I was thinking of, the below decks party from the film Titanic. We also picked up on a less pleasant energy in this area, and Di felt that there was a man and a woman leaving the theatre together with lots of photographers around, and a scandal of some sort.
Our final vigil was in the dress circle and boxes, and again this was very quiet for me. However, twice during this vigil, the group below the stage reported that there were footsteps above them, and I can confirm that at those times, no one was moving around in the auditorium or near the stage.
An interesting investigation. I am always a little worried about what I am picking up and what is created by my sub-conscious, but was impressed by the fact that Alison and I were both getting the same details at the same time in the below stage vigil. I didn't get anything in the octagonal room when she was coming up with information relating to the spirits in there.
Jon Small
Friday 8th June 2007 at the Kings Theatre, Portsmouth was my first paranormal investigation with the group. On entering the building on our walk around with guide Peter I was drawn to the rear of the stage and was aware of a male pacing around almost sergeant major like. On asking out for his name I received almost immediately "Davey, the names Davey", very stubborn like, almost like I shouldn't have asked as he seemed quite irritated. I held this to see if any one else was aware. On investing this the following day I discovered the name of Peter Davey who was the Theatre Manager from around 1914.
Dress Circle
On our first vigil Julie, Maria, Simon, Marie, Sarah and myself went to the Dress Circle and there was ,I felt, a great amount of calmness(something I felt all night), at one stage after Julie had called out myself and Julie almost immediately received the name "Charlie". Julie felt that this may have been the spirit of Charlie Drake the actor, it turns out Charlie Drake did actually appear in Panto at the Kings Theatre and we are investigating to see if we can find anything else. I also received the name Davey again and Clarke of which on later investigating proved to be another manager of the site (around 1939). I was sat just to the rear of Maria and she said that she felt a coldness of which I was aware too. I panned around with my camera and caught an orb racing away from Maria. Julie was aware of a person walking around on the walkway by the side of her and for some reason a door banged with apparently no-one else in the area at the time. We also heard a few creaks and the usual shadows but apart from that, nothing else seemed to be happening.
Hexagonal room
Our second vigil was in the hexagonal room in the tower at the front of the building. This for me turned out to be the most exciting part of the night for me. We were walking up the spiralling stairway towards the room (we were told by Peter that this is the way that the ordinary working class person would use) and I felt that there were many people using the stairway. We stopped half way and I decided to take some film of the stairway behind us. This was the most amazing sight of the night for me as I caught many Orbs coming up the stairway with all sorts of different movements. It was almost like they were filing up to the "gods" to see the performance. This too was said by one of the ladies in our group. On reaching the hexagonal room we didn't seem to be picking up anything (for me the quietest place) apart from when I was recording on the doorway I recorded a shadow passing on the door. I don't know if this was a spirit person or a shadow of one of the group but to my knowledge everyone was stood still. I am still investigating this.
The Upper circle
Although this is where the less well off people would come I felt that although very high up you had a magnificent view of the whole theatre and I think that we all felt the feeling of almost being "drunk like" at the top of the stairs. We, as a group were drawn to the room by the projectionists room where we heard a couple of quite audible coughs (no one else around), on investigating this we all felt that the little room by the side of the projectionists room was where they would go for a crafty cigarette or a nip of whisky whilst the show was on. We called out to make contact, but received nothing back. Apart from an Orb on the stairs nothing else was received.
On our way down to our next vigil we had to go past the hexagonal room. Simon had made this his own vigil whilst we were up on ours and he was shocked to see Julie with us as he swore that she had passed the doorway earlier, Spooky!
The Stalls
Our third vigil of the night took us to the seating area in front of the stage. I decided to stand in front of the stage by the music pit as earlier on another investigator had been pushed and I felt brave. All I can say that this was the most active area for temperature for me. A number of us felt great drops in temperature and at one stage I felt that someone had hold of both of my hands and was trying to "pull" me somewhere as they felt icy cold. Julie took some temperature readings and got some quite astonishing results. Maria, who was sat within a few feet of me, was registering a fairly normal temperature and I was something like 5 or 6 degrees lower around my personal space. Sandy, who was in the circles also, took some readings and he later told me that he was getting a different reading behind me to the one in front. We also heard a number of clicks and movements in the music pit but on calling out received no contact. I also sensed that on the stage, it was almost like there was a show going on as I could "see" ladies whizzing around the stage doing the Cancan and kicking their legs in the air as they did, this too was sensed by Sandy when we were speaking about it the following day. Later in the vigil Sandy called down from his vigil to ask me to go to row S and sit in some seats there, this I did along with Julie and after a settling period I felt a burning sensation on my neck. This sensation was so strong I had to ask my guides to back it off slightly. I then asked out for this spirit to do something else to me and in due course felt someone pull on my left ear. In all the time that I was there, and Julie felt the same, we felt that we were intruding and shouldn't have been in those seats almost like we were sat in the way and spirit would do all they could to get a better view.
This had an almost eerie feeling about it as it was very dark and you had the typical musty smell of a hundred years of usage down there. We sat around the natural spring that they have there and the natural energy I felt there was terrific. Maria called out a few times and received the name "Bertie", as this happened I received the name of Albert of which we took to be the same person. Another lady in the group received the name of Johnson, which she felt tied in with either Albert or Bertie. I called out to the male, as he didn't seem to want to talk to the ladies and got a little response. At the same time myself and Maria had the feeling of having a lot of pain on the sides of our faces of which I found exciting as Maria was sat a couple of seats away from me we thought that maybe he had fallen and this was maybe the way he died. Maria picked up on a young girl who was in visitation and at the same time I had the feeling of real deep sorrow and sadness, in fact I could have almost burst into tears. Also Sarah picked up on the phrase "she was only young" which at the time meant nothing but on investigating the history of the building the next day I found out that there was an unconfirmed report that a young female had committed suicide in the theatre. We also heard a number of footsteps above us in the stage area. Yet again we were not aware of anyone else being in that vicinity at the time. There were also a number of lights flashing in front of us that many of us picked up as well as a number of unexplained audible.
Summing up
What a fantastic night!
I went to this vigil not knowing what to expect, as this was my first real organised investigation so I went there with a clear mind and no prior knowledge of the place. To be honest I felt a bit of a fraud as I had many things happening to me but this I put down to the stage in my development psychically as I feel that to spirit I am "easy meat" and I am still developing with my guides to put into practice what they preach. The whole place felt so warm and welcoming, this was felt by others too. At no time did I feel that there was any negative energy about the place. I think that with the amount of activity, sightings and audible that we received and recorded this was a very successful night and also very enjoyable. Thank you to everyone for making me so welcome. Roll on the next investigation.
Sandy Rutter
1st impression - a very beautiful building inside & outside was not like any other theatre, very old looking but very oddly shaped.
Before we started our vigils we had a tour of the building, it was so tiring with all the stairs we had to go up and down. It was a very interesting tour though. After the tour we decided to have a group photo on the stage, it was very interesting as Peter our guide took the picture, he gave me camera back and he got orbs all different sizes. After the pic we set up our trigger objects. Wayne and I set up my camcorder on the floor with the complete works of William Shakespeare (the book was opened at the appropriate page Macbeth) with a motion sensors either side of the book.
The team I was in was - Maureen, Brian, Sandy, Mark D
1ST Vigil
We were in the stalls. We spread out a bit but not 2 far. We took a few pictures and settled down, we where all quiet. As there was other teams on the other levels above us I sat down on the end seat near the wall. In row S I felt as though I was sitting on some ones knee, so I decided to sit on the floor beside the chair. I could just sense a hand on my head, it was very gentle but none the less a good start and it was very cold there. I still stayed there until I followed an orb to the bottom near the stage. And then it vanished so I went back to my seat on the floor.
2ND Vigil
Under the Stage
It was very quiet in here but both Brian and I smelt sea water it must have come from the stream under the floor. Then we called out but nothing happened so Brian and I decided to go to the little room off to the left and we closed the door. Brian called out is there anybody there and something pinched my arm and it was freezing cold behind me. All in all the area was very quiet
3RD Vigil
Dress Circle and Boxes
We split up again Maureen and Mark went in one of the boxes Brian and I went to the other side of the Theatre. We took a few pictures as per normal. Julie's team was in the stalls so we where quiet as mice. I kept seeing a shadow dart from one side to another. As I looked up I saw it again. I must have seen the shadow 4 or 5 times but nobody was there as most of the teams where in the main theatre but on different levels. I took several pictures from across the room to try and catch the shadow but I dont know if I did or not.
4TH and final Vigil
The top Balcony (The Gods )
I got there first as the rest of the team was getting new batteries. I took a few pictures and the orbs I got were good. The rest of the team finally joined me. Brian and I were at the bottom of the balcony and Maureen and Mark were at the first set of seats you come to through the door. It was very high which I didn't mind. We heard Alison from the other team calling out. Alison asked me if there was anybody sitting to the left of me and I said no as I was the only person on that side.
All in All it was a very quiet investigation and I would like to thank the team for the pleasure of working with them and to Peter for accompanying us. I would like to say welcome to our newest member Jon Small and hope to work with you soon.
I would like to go back to the theatre but in a smaller group.
Marie Holder
Introduction
This was an excellent chance to investigate a truly wonderful location and a place that should be filled with residual energy from all the people that have passed through its doors as well as all the actors that have "trodden the boards" in years gone by.
Vigil 2 - Back stairs, Octagonal Room and Upper Circle
This was my first vigil of the evening as I did not arrive until 11pm. We started up the backstairs and Jon who was on the camcorder noticed some orbs following us up the stairs. We carried on up and we eventually (after much huffing and puffing on my part!) got to the Octagonal Room. I didn't feel much in this room but Julie mentioned that the room smelt of "old men" and I commented that it smelt a bit musty.
I decided to take a walk down the corridor and as I walked away from the Octagonal Room doing an EMF sweep, I distinctly heard a man breathe out quite sharply; Jon was standing the other end of the corridor so I asked if it was him, he said it wasn't.
After a while we decided to go further up the stairs to the Projection Room and upper circle. I felt nothing in the Projection Room and did some quiet calling out on my own in there but nothing came of it.
The team and I walked around the Upper Circle and Jon mentioned he heard someone clear their throat or cough in the room next to the projection room, Sarah and I decided to do a vigil in this room, we called out but nothing happened. I saw Simon leave the Upper Circle and around 10 minutes later we met up with him in the Octagonal Room. He said he followed who he thought was Julie down the stairs to the Octagonal Room, however when we got to the room we told Simon that it wasn't Julie as we were all up in the Upper Circle together and that he went downstairs on his own!
Vigil 3 - Stalls
After a short break we went to the stalls. We all picked a chair and sat quietly after a while we called out, Jon was standing at the front by the orchestra pit and said his arm felt cold, Julie took a temperature reading and found that Jon's arm and hand were indeed colder than anybody else's. I did an EMF sweep but it did not show any unusual readings. At one point when Julie called out, Pete, our guide said he suddenly felt cold air surround him.
After a while I joined Jon in row 'R' and again I heard a man breathe out sharply but this time it sounded as if he was quite annoyed, this was at the same time Julie mentioned that she felt she shouldn't be sitting in the seat she was sat in and felt like she was sat in someone else's seat. Jon called out and mentioned that his neck and face was getting hot even though it wasn't particularly warm in there. The names Albert and Ivor came up from Julie and Maria.
Vigil 4 - Under the Stage
This was one part of the investigation I was particularly looking forward to as it was very creepy not to mention dusty and the air was very thick.
We all took our seats and sat quietly for a while. There was very little ambient light down there but there was quite a bit of noise from outside which was a bit off putting at times.
The name Albert came up again as well as Celia from Maria and Sarah mentioned that when Celia came up as a name she had the words 'she's only young' pop into her head. Considering the atmosphere of the room and lack of light I did not feel much, however there was a tap in response to one of Jon's questions and at one point he felt a pain on one side of his face and thinks that this might be related to Albert, Maria also mentioned that she to had a pain on the left side of her face.
I suddenly had the name Albert Johnson pop into my head and Julie asked out using this name but got no response.
I walked around the other side of the room doing an EMF sweep and thought I heard a women's short laugh or a women clearing her throat and Jon said he had heard the same thing. I then walked to the other side of the room and my EMF meter spiked to 2mg when I was not standing by anything that could have caused it. Also during this vigil both Jon and Julie's camcorders got drained of battery power and later on Simon's camcorder decided to turn itself off without him touching it.
Conclusion
What a location! I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and wished I could have got there earlier. I took quite a few pictures in all three vigils and got some very promising results. I seemed to get orbs on nearly every picture I took.
There were occasions on vigils that I did not feel anything however, each vigil had something interesting to report.
We also had a possible sighting of a spirit on the backstairs by Simon (don't know whether to feel jealous or not in this case!) I sincerely hope that the theatre management will allow us to return in the near future as it is definitely worth another investigation and I thank them for their hospitality. Perhaps next time it will be me meeting Julie's 'd?ppleganger' on the stairs. Bring it on (I think!)
Marion McCaffrey
I was in Team 2 with Di, Amanda, Alison and Eileen.
First Vigil was in the Octagon Room and "up to the Gods" Circle -
Temperature was 21 ½ C in Octagon room. Orb was caught on camera, Di was feeling cold. Alison called out and a shadow was seen on the opposite side of the room to us.
The temperature was fluctuating quite a lot. Di thought that a person in the room with us was a women and Alison thought that the name was Cathleen because the song "I'll take you home again Cathleen" was in her head. I was feeling very cold in places and also felt the presence of somebody in the room with us. I called out but we didn't get any response at all.
Up in the Gods Circle -
We find it very quite in this part of the circle, difficult to move around or call out as other vigil groups was in the other parts of the dress circles and stalls.
Second Vigil was in the Stalls -There were already 2 groups in the area one in the middle tier and boxes and the upper circle. After all photos were taken Rachel from another group started calling out.
Allison also called out for an Amy Burton, which was a name that came into her head.
Theatre stalls were very quite and peaceful, nobody was trying to make contact with us. Then the battery life in the video camera started fading and we called out after hearing 2 thuds. We called out again and in response again got 2 thuds in response.
Third Vigil under the Stage -
Out of all the vigils I felt that this was the most active. It was very cold in this area. I called out to see if anyone wanted to make contact. The name Joseph Bell came from Alison and she thought that he was a stagehand in the 1920's wearing a white shirt and flat cap. Eileen felt that she was offered a hand as if asking her to dance. This was offered from a gentle boy. Di felt that somebody had fallen in the well and drowned it was a man with a beard. Alison gave the name of Godfrey Garner-Higgins? We were all feeling freezing and Alison had visually goose bumps on her arms. A groan was heard when we were calling out and the feeling came that someone had been taken away by the police in the 1930's out of the theatre, old fashion cameras were seen taken the photos and another man was seen with his arm round a women leading her away. Some sort of Scandal.
An image of a cat was seen also.
Fourth Vigil was in the Dress Circle and Boxes -
Again the difficulty of maintaining the silence and listening, when so many groups are doing the vigils in the same areas. Alison got the name of Harry Carpenter.
Summing up - I feel the most active for our group was under the stage. I also feel it was difficult to hold vigils in the stall and circle areas with so many cameras flashing and making a general noise made it difficult to hear any tapping noises etc
Brian Ward
The Kings Theatre was an investigation, which took me into a theatre with 100 years of history of punters filling seats and 100 years of actors and dancers to entertain them.
A beautiful building with lots of wonderful things to look at, Beautiful Ceilings and Stage Front with the Muppet Boxes over looking the stage. The walk down the hall to where the higher price seats were and in the Bar you could imagine the Victorian ladies walking up and down showing of there new dresses.
The Foyer - another grand entrance to the Theatre for the people who could afford it and on the other side The dank stair case which took the people with little money for luxuries, to what is known as The Gods. By this time you have walked up all the stairs you are on your knees. I was very surprised that there was not a pile of Parachutes to put on as you where right up in the ceiling looking down at a postage stamp of a stage.
I honestly can't talk about any Paranormal Activity on any of the Vigil's I was on as to me nothing happened. I did feel a few breezes and caught a few light anomalies which turned out to be a Moth and Dust but what can you expect for a 100 year old Building.
It was a great honour to be able to walk around this Beautiful Building even if nothing of a paranormal nature happened to me.
I would like to thank Peter for showing us around this building and for putting up with us for the night.
Ross Richardson
I was looking forward to this investigation as this was my first time investigating a theatre.
I arrived at the kings theatre at about 8.30pm then was meet by Peter Clark our host. He then he showed me to where the rest of our SP members were. We all had a chat then got our equipment sorted out ready for our vigils. We first went on a tour of the building with Peter defining vigil areas and getting to know our way round so we don't get lost. As we were going around Alison said did you hear that whistle, I did not hear it myself at that time but a few minutes later in the corridor I did hear it. I don't know where it come from but it was strange. After we had the tour we got into our teams and started our vigils. I was in team 4 with team leader Rachel, Mark,Wayne and Emma. We started off under the stage and stayed there for 45 minutes but did not experience any paranormal activity. I did hear a sound from above but as I looked up there was some pipes so think it came from there. We did hear voices but it was coming from a exit door so it was only people outside on the street passing by the building. Wayne started to feel quite dizzy near a passage area near the trap door, so then we all went over to the same area and had the same feeling. Our time now was finishing on the first vigil so we all moved on to the next one, which was the dress circle and the boxes. I moved into one of the boxes with the others in different areas. I looked around and listened for any sounds but all I could hear again was the noise of people and traffic passing by outside. It was very hard to hear things from inside the theatre with the sounds from outside. We took turns calling out but nothing really was heard apart from when Rachel called out and we all heard a big thud from below in the main seating area near the middle towards the stage. Called out again but no response. We next had a break, then moved on up to the top part of the building and into the gods. Walked up a load of stairs into a small room at the top which was lit up. Took some photos towards the corridor and managed to pick up some orbs, moved on to the seating area right up in the gods and sat around for a while but was very quiet. Next was our last vigil in the main seating area at floor level towards the stage. I felt cold in the rows in the back seating, so asked the others did they feel cold and they said no so I cant explain it was there spirits nearby? So next I called out for the last time but no response but got some more orbs on the seats and I was still feeling cold. The night was now coming to an end so we all packed up and left. The kings theatre was very interesting and a beautiful historical building and glad I had the chance to investigate it. Would like to thank the kings theatre trust and Peter Clark for making us so welcome.
Rachel Bettany
This was one location I was really looking forward to, and to be honest standing outside the back doors I was a little disappointed as it didn't look all that impressive. I was soon to be proved very wrong, it was one of the most fantastic buildings I have investigated. The interior was beautiful.
Team - Wayne
Mark
Ross
Emma
Vigil 1 - under the stage
After a little trouble locating the light switches we settled down spaced out around the area, all team members took a few photos while Wayne wandered around with the video, nobody felt anything odd, after 20 mins or so some noises were heard from an area we were unable to get to and Wayne , Ross and Emma reported feeling a little dizzy for no reason on the walk way by the stage door, little else was felt seen or heard in this area.
Vigil 2 - Dress circle and Boxes
This was a large area, so again we all split up to cover as much of it as we could, we all took photos and video was taken, I did catch a lot of possible orbs, mainly high up towards the ceiling (which was stunning ) a thud was heard at one point from one of the boxes but we could hear traffic and people outside, although it did sound as if it was from inside the building.
Vigil 3 - The Gods and Stairs
The gods was a great place to investigate, again we split up to make the most of the time we had, photos were taken by all of us, and possible orbs were caught, mainly on the stairs. I was lucky enough to catch orbs on the video on the stairs near the double doors to the Gods, which was were another group member thought he had seen something move down the stairs. At no point did the area feel wrong in anyway, and all of my team felt quiet at ease there.
Vigil 4 - The Stalls
This was the last vigil of the evening, so we stuck with the same approach and split up to cover the area as best we could, again photos were taken and again a lot of possible orbs were caught, but it remained quiet. We did notice some of the seats were down towards the back, although not all seats stayed in the up right position so we can not be sure, if it was paranormal.
It was a really good night, I would like to thank my team for keeping the noise down, as the acoustics were fantastic, and it made the night so much easier, and thanks to all the other teams for also being very quiet. Not a huge amount happened but I did get the feeling the building was hiding something, and maybe if we get the chance to visit again it may show us more.
Thank you to Mr. Peter Clark for giving up his evening to stay with us, and a very interesting tour to start our evening.
Simon Steadman
Well, my first theatre! I have always wanted to investigate a theatre so I was really looking forward to it. The building was very deceiving from the outside as it looked small, but as soon as we had the walk around I discovered that this was one of the most impressive buildings I had ever been into, it was stunning.
Vigil 1 dress circle and boxes.
Rather a quiet start for the first vigil, until Julie squeaked and jumped out of the way as she was convinced that something was rushing towards her, immediately after that we heard odd noises coming from the corridor behind the seating. I volunteered to investigate and as I walked into the corridor I felt a little apprehensive and during my tentative stroll down the hall a few other noises (that were very difficult to pinpoint) got me feeling quite nervous. I reached the other side and sat with the rest of the team for the rest of the vigil with little else to report.
Vigil 2 the gods and hexagonal room
This was one of the highlights of my night at the theatre. I'm not a big fan of heights but when I got to the gods I found it very comfortable and I could have sat there all night without any problem. A few light anomalies were caught throughout my time there but after 30 minutes I decided to leave the team and go to the hexagonal room. This room really interested me as apparently it has connections with the famed 'hellfire club'. As I went through the doors to the stairs, I saw what I thought was Julie walking round the corner on the stairs, I thought nothing of it and carried on towards the hexagonal room and caught a glimpse of the same figure again just turning the corner in front of me. Again I thought nothing of it and continued into the room to get some stills. After about 15 mins the rest of the team entered the room from upstairs to my shock none of them were ever ahead of me on the stairs, as of yet I am still at a loss as to who was in front of me on the stairs. (if anyone remembers being there at that time please let me know) A little shaken I went with the team back to the crew room ready for the next vigil.
Vigil 3 stalls
Another quiet vigil. I felt very content and happy during our investigation of this part and a side from a few light anomalies my time in the stalls was very still.
Vigil 4 understage area
This vigil got slightly odd, we had only been there for about 15 mins when Jon's camcorder battery ran out, and straight after Julie's camcorder did the same. I decided to fetch a reserve camcorder from the crew room (which was fully charged) on return to the vigil area there was a very strange feeling that we were not alone in there and even stranger were the very definite footsteps coming from the stage above (we knew that the stage was empty as Peter had locked the area off to us all) which the entire team heard. On giving the camcorder to Julie she switched it on pressed record and the camera went completely dead! We turned it back on and it worked with no problem for 45 mins. More slight sounds and lights were witnessed and the whole team felt a real sense of presence throughout the vigil, but with no other events and the night drawing to a close we all decided to call it quits on a very, very good investigation.
The King's theatre was a delight to spend some time in and I will remember this investigation for a long time to come. Peter was a great asset to the team on the night as I would probably still be lost somewhere in this great building.
I can't wait to go back even if it's just to find out who was in front of me on the stairs!!